Four Points Sheraton, Milwaukee, June 2, 2018
In case you have not been following my blog, I have been locked in a battle with the management of the Four Points Sheraton. They wanted to cancel my June show and I basically threw a fit.
After a tense couple of months, we came to an agreement at the April show where we planned to move the June show into the hotel's restaurant. All was quiet leading up the June Four Points show. A little too quiet. I was worried that I would show up at the hotel, the door would be locked and the room would not be set up.
To my surprise, the back door was open and the restaurant was set up for the show! Not only was the restaurant set up but the set up was awesome! The hotel lined up the restaurant tables for us to use, brought in more tables, gave us tables in the hallway and in the bar!! We had a ton of space!! Needless to say, I was pleased.
Normally, before the show, I draw up a little map of the room and figure out where to place all the dealers. For this show, I did not know how the hotel was going to set up the room so I winged it that morning and let the dealers choose their spots. We had so many tables that I was able to give most all the dealers a free table in addition to their regular tables.
Roger was there waiting for me when I arrived. I let Roger pick his tables. As each dealer arrived, I did the same thing and let them pick out their spots. Once everybody was set up, I thought the place looked great. I even had room to let in a random dealer, who was in town for a couple of days from Dallas. Of course, I've already forgotten his name. He was a nice guy who had some nice modern cards. The only drawback that day was the dim lighting in the bar. If we ever have this set up again, we need extra lamps for the bar.
Now if you have been to my show in the past, you know that the lower level of the hotel is just about all banquet rooms. On this day, a gaming convention had taken all of the banquet rooms. I was a little worried that the sports card crowd would not find us back in the restaurant so I placed flyers all over the hotel. Also, the folks operating the gaming convention were very kind and directed folks back to the restaurant. In return, I directed quite a few of the gaming crowd to their registration area. Then many gamers came into the show and purchased cards. Woot! I love when that happens!!
I was happy to see that our regular crowd found us in the restaurant. We had a steady flow of customers in the morning. I gave out three free packs of sports cards. I picked up some really nice wax from Roger to give away like 2018 Allen & Ginter. I really appreciate everyone who attends my show and I want to show that appreciation with some nice giveaways.
Like always, we had a lot of new customers to go along with the regulars. I love when new customers bring cards in to sell to the dealers -- something I really encourage. All the dealers buy cards both new and old. My show is a great place to lighten your load of cards. I purchased a box filled with 1964 and 1965 Topps baseball.
My sales were once again excellent. There were quite a few set builders at this show who found cards in my binders for their sets. It was nice to see Mark back after a long absence. Mark picked up some oddball cards and some old football cards. Thanks Mark! John purchased a Billy Williams autograph. Jerome spent some time in all of my binders and found quite few cards. Many other guys went through my binders. I'm so bad with names. Please remind me of your name and I'll get you into the blog.
Another thing I have to add about this show is that the main hotel antagonist was not present. The hotel staff that was there was super friendly and helpful which was much appreciated. After the show, I didn't get charged for the room and assumed the hotel was trying to make good by giving me the room for free. No such luck. Nearly a month later, on June 28, my credit card was charged for the room.
Anyway, I'm glad that mess is seemingly behind me. Moving on, I'm setting up tomorrow, July 15, at Gonzaga Hall in Milwaukee. I'll be at the Orland Park (Illinois) Civic Center on July 22, and then back at the Four Points Sheraton in Milwaukee on August 4. We will be in the Rembrandt Room for the August 4th show. Lots of dealers are signing up! Woot!
In case you have not been following my blog, I have been locked in a battle with the management of the Four Points Sheraton. They wanted to cancel my June show and I basically threw a fit.
After a tense couple of months, we came to an agreement at the April show where we planned to move the June show into the hotel's restaurant. All was quiet leading up the June Four Points show. A little too quiet. I was worried that I would show up at the hotel, the door would be locked and the room would not be set up.
To my surprise, the back door was open and the restaurant was set up for the show! Not only was the restaurant set up but the set up was awesome! The hotel lined up the restaurant tables for us to use, brought in more tables, gave us tables in the hallway and in the bar!! We had a ton of space!! Needless to say, I was pleased.
Normally, before the show, I draw up a little map of the room and figure out where to place all the dealers. For this show, I did not know how the hotel was going to set up the room so I winged it that morning and let the dealers choose their spots. We had so many tables that I was able to give most all the dealers a free table in addition to their regular tables.
Roger was there waiting for me when I arrived. I let Roger pick his tables. As each dealer arrived, I did the same thing and let them pick out their spots. Once everybody was set up, I thought the place looked great. I even had room to let in a random dealer, who was in town for a couple of days from Dallas. Of course, I've already forgotten his name. He was a nice guy who had some nice modern cards. The only drawback that day was the dim lighting in the bar. If we ever have this set up again, we need extra lamps for the bar.
Now if you have been to my show in the past, you know that the lower level of the hotel is just about all banquet rooms. On this day, a gaming convention had taken all of the banquet rooms. I was a little worried that the sports card crowd would not find us back in the restaurant so I placed flyers all over the hotel. Also, the folks operating the gaming convention were very kind and directed folks back to the restaurant. In return, I directed quite a few of the gaming crowd to their registration area. Then many gamers came into the show and purchased cards. Woot! I love when that happens!!
I was happy to see that our regular crowd found us in the restaurant. We had a steady flow of customers in the morning. I gave out three free packs of sports cards. I picked up some really nice wax from Roger to give away like 2018 Allen & Ginter. I really appreciate everyone who attends my show and I want to show that appreciation with some nice giveaways.
Like always, we had a lot of new customers to go along with the regulars. I love when new customers bring cards in to sell to the dealers -- something I really encourage. All the dealers buy cards both new and old. My show is a great place to lighten your load of cards. I purchased a box filled with 1964 and 1965 Topps baseball.
My sales were once again excellent. There were quite a few set builders at this show who found cards in my binders for their sets. It was nice to see Mark back after a long absence. Mark picked up some oddball cards and some old football cards. Thanks Mark! John purchased a Billy Williams autograph. Jerome spent some time in all of my binders and found quite few cards. Many other guys went through my binders. I'm so bad with names. Please remind me of your name and I'll get you into the blog.
Another thing I have to add about this show is that the main hotel antagonist was not present. The hotel staff that was there was super friendly and helpful which was much appreciated. After the show, I didn't get charged for the room and assumed the hotel was trying to make good by giving me the room for free. No such luck. Nearly a month later, on June 28, my credit card was charged for the room.
Anyway, I'm glad that mess is seemingly behind me. Moving on, I'm setting up tomorrow, July 15, at Gonzaga Hall in Milwaukee. I'll be at the Orland Park (Illinois) Civic Center on July 22, and then back at the Four Points Sheraton in Milwaukee on August 4. We will be in the Rembrandt Room for the August 4th show. Lots of dealers are signing up! Woot!
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